KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court on Thursday put off the final hearing on the controversial appointment of Jaya Bahadur Chand as the Inspector General of Nepal Police for Sunday.

Earlier, the case was assigned to the division bench of Justice duo Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada and Tej Bahadur KC.

The bench, however, passed the hearing to the full bench considering the seriousness of the issue, according to the SC spokesperson Mahendra Upadhyaya.

It means two stay orders barring Chand to assume the position would continue till then.

The government on February 12 had appointed Chand to the post of Nepal Police Chief.

The Court, however, had stayed the decision after it was moved against the appointment claiming the decision violated the tradition of seniority.

Advocate Kapil Dev Dhakal had filed the case.

The next day, the Court had again barred Chand from assuming office in response to another writ filed by his batchmate DIG Nawa Raj Silwal.

Silwal had claimed that he was the most senior among four DIGs eligible for the top post and therefore, he should have been appointed.

Hearing on both the writs had begun on February 22.

Concluding rounds of the hearing, the Court on March 1 had ordered that the stay orders issued earlier would continue till the final verdict.

(With inputs from Rastriya Samachar Samiti)